Newland finds himself shocked by old Catherine Mingott's
news that Ellen will be living with her. He is sure Ellen has agreed to it in
order to be closer to him, but now that she is here, he is worried about what
will happen between them. He does not want to live with the sordid lies of an
affair, as Lefferts does. He thinks he and Ellen are different, that their situation
is unique.

As he is walking in the evening, he comes upon the Beaufort house.
Ellen comes out and he calls to her. As they stand on the street together, Lawrence
Lefferts and young Chivers cross the street discreetly and continue walking. Newland
tells Ellen he needs to see her the next day and they agree to meet at the museum.
Afterwards, Newland is upset over having begun what he believes is the first step
toward an extra-marital affair.

The next day in the museum, Newland tells
her he thinks she has come back to New York out of fear that he would come to
Washington. He says he had actually thought about leaving May a note that would
make his return impossible and then convincing Ellen to run away with him to some
place like Japan. Ellen tells him she doesn't want to be like all the others who
are unfaithful to their spouses. When he persists in pressing her, she says she
will only come to him to consummate their passion if he agrees to her stipulation.
He asks what that is and she tells him that once they meet as lovers, he must
allow her to return to her husband. Newland refuses. Ellen begins to cry softly
and says she must leave then. Newland agrees. They plan to meet in two days to
be together.

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Alone in his home, Newland feels like he is dead, looking at his belongings and
his home and feeling very separate from his life. May bursts in, apologizing for
her lateness. She tells him she went to see her grandmother and met Ellen. They
had a good talk and she feels much happier with Ellen now. Then May justifies
her family's actions in ostracizing Ellen for her unconventional behavior. Newland
feels a door slam shut between them, one that had barely opened. He gets up to
go dress for dinner and May stands up and throws her arms around his neck. She
looks like she is about to cry and begs him to kiss her.

Notes

Just when Newland is on the brink of having a full-blown affair with Ellen, May
comes home and throws herself into his arms asking to be kissed. The scene and
a couple of allusions to their married life earlier hint at a lack of physical
ardor in their relationship. For example, Newland notices that when May gets home,
she puts her hand on his arm and caresses him. He notes that it's rare for May
to do that. In the previous chapter, Newland chafed at having to act like he was
still a newlywed when there was no passion in his marriage. Much earlier, when
he visited May in St. Augustine before their marriage, he kissed her passionately
and she pulled back blushing. The contrast here seems painfully obvious and reveals
how fully Newland Archer has put his sexual longings in his imaginary life with
Ellen, leaving May with nothing

CHAPTER 32

Summary

It
is an evening dinner party at the van der Luydens, who have come back into the
city from their country house to re-establish social order. The conversation turns
to gossip that Ellen Olenska was visiting the Beauforts. May tries to defend Ellen
without success. Mr. Sillerton Jackson reminds them that having been raised in
Europe, Ellen has never learned the right way to do things.

After dinner,
they all go to the opera. It is Faust, the same opera from that night so many
years ago when Newland first saw Ellen Olenska and announced his engagement to
May. He looks at May and realizes she is wearing her wedding gown made over, as
is the custom of New York women. He remembers May telling him that she could not
have her happiness made out of a wrong to someone else. She said this on the day
he went to see her in St. Augustine before their marriage. He decides he must
tell her the truth. Newland has always been a quiet and self-controlled person.
He has always conformed to the discipline of his small society. He finds doing
something against their norms to be totally distasteful. When the singer is singing
"M'ama!" (He loves me), he goes into the box to ask May to come home
with him, giving the excuse of a terrible headache.

When they get home, May
slips getting out of the carriage and muddies her dress. They go upstairs and
Newland lights a cigarette. May tells him he should go to bed to take care of
his headache. He tells her he doesn't really have such a bad headache, that he
really wants to talk to her. May sits down and looks at him directly. He tells
her there's something important he has to tell her right away. Then he says Ellen's
name and May interrupts him, asking him why they must talk about Ellen on this
night. She tells him that especially now, since Ellen is leaving, there is no
use in talking about her. When he asks what she means, she tells him Ellen has
written her that very day to say she will be moving to Europe with her aunt Medora.
She has been able to convince her grandmother to let her go and also to support
her financially so that she can be independent of her husband.

Newland is shocked.
He does not understand why Ellen wrote to May instead of him. May tells him she
spoke to Ellen the day previously and told her she was sorry she had not been
kind. She said she wanted Ellen to know that she and her husband felt exactly
the same way in supporting her. She brings the note in for Newland to read. He
reads it several times, exclaiming that it is not possible. Then he bursts out
laughing and cannot stop himself. Finally, he stops himself and continues questioning
May. Finally, May tells him she has a headache and will go on to bed. As she leaves
the room, he notices her torn and muddy wedding dress dragging across the floor
after her.

Notes

This scene is crucial to the pending climax of
the plot, since in it Newland's desire for Ellen is once again dashed by circumstance.
This time, as in the past, he has been left out of the crucial decision-making
processes, and has even been in the dark about Ellen's participation. May, for
her part, seems more involved than ever. Her mysterious knowledge, explained by
the letter, only deepens in complexity when it is revealed she has had a talk
with Ellen. Later, the full impact of that talk will seem clearer. For now, it
almost seems incidental to Newland and not of great consequence.